Snap-on caps and packages incorporating the same



Feb. 6, 1962 J. u. GOULD ETAL SNAP-0N CAPS AND PACKAGES INCORPORATING THE SAME Filed Aug. 6, 1958 ,6 FIG.

INVENTORS J46! 4 aouzp 10M429 M. Ga VI 3,019,933 SNAP= ON (IAPS AND PACKAGES INORFORATIPJG THE SAME Jack U. Gould, Brooklyn, and Leonard M. Gutmanu, Babylon, N.Y., assignors to Ferdinand Gutrnann & Co., Brooklyn, N.Y., a corporation of New York Fiied Aug. 6, 1953, Ser. No. 753,556 4 Qlaims, {Cl. 215-41) its hold upon the container, essentially upon the peripheral grip of its skirt about the bead of the bottle, the seal is substantially solely at the periphery of the bead rather than against the rim of the bottle, which explains Why the use of plastic snap-on caps has heretofore been impractical for containers with liquid content, since liquid would exude from between the bottle rim and the cap and either-escape to the exterior or at best accumulate against the bottle bead-engaging skirt of the cap.

In the absence of effective top seal of the snap-on cap with respect to the rim of the bottle or like container, the use of a tamper-proof inner seal has also heretofore been impractical; for the convenient and practical application of atamper-proof inner seal, requires adequate top pressure of the snap-on bottle cap against the bottle rim, so that the inner seal may become adhesively bonded to the bottle rim and'this, as We have seen, can be accomplished in a practical 'way only by top seal of the snap-on cap to the bottle rim. Moreover, the application of a snap-on bottle cap of the-type which depends for its hold essentially only upon a peripheral skirt, resiliently to grip the conventional bottle, resi1lts in engagement if at all, of the disk top of the snap-on cap at or near the outer edge of the bottle rim rather than near the inner edge and this also is objectionable with the use of a tamper-proof inner seal film, because asiaass Patented Feb. 6, 1962 ice 4 container, and thereby avoids the difiiculties inherent in snap-on caps of the type that has a protruding removal tab, since the latter necessitates careful positioning in feed of the caps for mechanical capping of bottles or like containers and must also be accurately positioned in introducing the packages into a shipping container.

it is a feature of the invention that the snap-on bottle cap which may be of polyethylene, vinyl plastic or similar elastic, preferably transparent plastic, be relatively thick and therefore comparatively stiff in character along a substantial peripheral area near the junction between the top disk and the skirt of the snap-on cap; that is along the rim area of the top disk and at the upper area of the skirt of the snap-on cap. A relatively wide and stiff peripheral shoulder at the junction between the thick upper, and the materially thinner lower skirt portion, affords a purchase for removal by'the user of the snap-on cap from the package. 9

The thin lower portion of the snap-on cap preferably has a lower rim extending'radially inward, which be comes stressed in'applying the snap-on cap to the bottle, resiliently to embrace a downwardly and inwardly sloping lower portion of the bottle bead. The lower rim of the skirt becomes stressed effectively throughout the entire range of dimensional tolerances of the bottle but affords a substantial component of downward force by a relatively steep angle of engagement with the bottle, to transmit thrust through the thick relatively stiff portion of the cap for an effective top seal against the bottle rim which is usefulnot only for packages of tablets and powder, but for'liquid product as well.

Another feature is resort to a bottle finish, (a) with anoutward and downward slope from its highest portion which is near the bore of the bottle neck, and (b) with a bead having its lower portion sloping downward an'd inward, preferably concavely, at an angle to the the liquid carrier of the adhesive would be blocked from t escape to the exterior, but rather would be directed to ward the contents of the bottle, which would be especially objectionable for liquidcompositions that must ge guarded from impurities or such as are of hygroscopic character and must be isolated from evensmall proportions of vapor of water or other solvent. 7

It is accordingly among the objects of the invention to provide a package of the above type in which the container and the associated snap-on cap are conformed, inherently to afford sufficient top pressure of the snapon cap with respect to the rim of the rigid bottle or other container, effectively to seal and reeseal, not only dry, but liquid product as well, and to afford suflicient peripheral resilience at the skirt of the snap-on cap to accommodate the dimensional tolerances of the bottle neck.

Another object is to provide a tamper-proof inner seal in a package conforming to the above objects, which becomes adequately pressed against at least one substantially annular region of the bottle rim for thoroughly efiective seal to the bottle rim, wherein inherent facilities are afforded for ready evaporation of the liquid carrier of the adhesive for the tamper-proof inner seal to assure prompt and adequate bonding of the seal to the bottle rim, without entry into the contents of the package of objectionable amounts of the vapor of such carrier.

Another object is to provide a snap-on cap of the above ftype, which affords a continuous symmetrical hand-pressure sustaining arrangement unitary therewith, for removal or" the snap-on cap from the bottle or other vertical which is much greater than that of the conventional lock shoulder, so that in applying the snap-on cap, its lower rim will be stretched in passing over the bead of the bottle and in its partial elastic return, will resiliently react against the sloping bead portion for a resilient grip thereabout, adapted to the range of dimensional tolerances of the bottle, which sloping head portion affords a substantial vertical downward thrust component, fo'radequate pressure against the bottle rim near the bore of the bottle neck, for utility even with a package for liquids. I

Another feature'is to render effective in a combination of the above type an inner safety seal film of the type which may be frictionally retained in the snap-0n bottle cap before its application to the bottle, the seal of which is rendered effective (a) by the substantial vertical component of pressure resiliently exerted by the snap-on cap for securely pressing the inner safety seal film against the bottle rim, and (b) by the seal of such inner safety seal to the bottle rim near the bore diameter thereof, so. that (c) the volatile carrier of the adhesive that "bonds the safety seal to the bottle rim is afforded an escape to the outside of the bottle through the outward and downward slope from the highest portion of the bottle rim which is near the bore of the bottle neck, and (d) such volatile carrier escapes through one or more vents in the lower portion of the snap-on bottle cap, preferably through spaced venting scallops in the thinned inturned lower rim of the bottle cap.

In the accompanying drawings in which are shown one or more of various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a dropped sectional view of one embodiment of the bottle finish and of a preferred embodiment of snap-on cap to seal the same, the section of said cap being taken on line 1-1 of FIG. 2,

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the snap-n bottle p,

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the assembly with a safety inner seal film interposed between the bottle rim and the top disk of the snap-on cap in place thereon, and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the corelation of the bottle finish and snap-on cap assembled thereon without an interposed safety inner seal.

.Referring now to the drawings, the snap-on cap is of relatively elastic plastic, preferably polyethylene, though other plastics such as vinyl plastic may be used, which, for various purposes and especially for the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, may be of transparent plasti L The snap-on cap is generally referred to hereinafter as a snap-on bottle cap, the term bottle embracing within its scope a vial, a jar, a tumbler or similar container of glass or other substantially rigid material.

The snap-on bottle cap has the top disk or wall it with the peripheral dependent skirt 11 unitary therewith. That snap-on cap is of thick plastic stock at the area near the junction of the disk and skirt. More particularly, at least the peripheral annulus 12 of the top disk adjacent the skirt 11 and the upper portion 13 of the skirt 11 adjacent the periphery of the disk are of such thick plastic stock.

The thickness of the portions 12 and 13 is such as to render the width of the snap-on cap along the junction between its end disk and its skirt substantially rigid. The skirt portion beyond or below the thick skirt portion 13 is of greatly reduced thickness as at 14, the lowermost extremity of that skirt portion being desirably rounded as at 14'.

The snap-on cap presents a thick peripheral shoulder 18 at the junction between the thick upper skirt portion 13 and the relatively thin lower skirt portion 14.

Extending inward from the lower end of the skirt is a peripheral rim 15 which is of thickness as little or if desired, less than that of the skirt portion 14 for enhanced flexibility.

Desirably, the circular central area 16 of the top disk of the cap is much thinner than the annular rim 12, a rounded peripheral shoulder 17 defining the excess thickness of the rim.

Desirably the outer face of the thick rim 12 of the snap-on cap has a plurality of equidistant radial slots or grooves 19 which may continue as corresponding slots along the thick skirt portion 13, down to the upper edge of shoulder 18. For ornamental eifect and to avoid possible injury to the user in pushing with his fingers against shoulder 18 for removal of the snap-on cap, the slots 19 taper in depth along the skirt, so as not to interrupt the upper edge of shoulder 18.

While the snap-0n cap, as set forth, may be used in lieu of conventional snap-on bottle caps upon conventional'bottles, the desired fully effective top seal of hot- 'tle attained by the construction of snap-on cap of the present invention is accomplished by the use of a' special glass finish, as shown in FIG. 1. Here, the bottle rim 2? slopes downwardly and outwardly substantially, as shown, from the usual chamfer 2'1 at the inner rim of the bore of the bottle neck to form the rounded bead 22, that head tapering off in an inward and downward,

preferably concave slope 23 from the maximum bead diameter, which slope affords an interference fit with respect to the gripping rim 15 of the snap-on cap. That slope, desirably has a maximum angle to the vertical, at the lower end of the convex curve b immediately below the maximum bead diameter region a, which maximum angle is greater than the usual lock shoulder angle of bottles designed to accommodate snap-on caps. Specifically, an angle of that slope in the neighborhood of 54 has been found desirable. V

In a desirablev embodiment as shown in FIG. 3, the snap-on cap is provided with a tamper-proof inner seal film 25, itself of conventional construction. The snapon cap, which desirably has a small downward and inward taper 26 at the inner face of the skirt, that may be in the order of 3 degrees, serves to check curling of the film when loosely placed in the snap-on cap while in stock and before its application to the bottle. An adhesive film 27 desirably moistened with water or other suitable solvent is preferably applied to the upper portion of the rim of the bottle to effect the seal by pressure of the'cap against said rim.

in order to assure ready escape of the vapors from the solvent for the adhesive that serves to bond the inner safety seal to the bottle rim, one or more vents are provided in the thin lower portion of the snap-on cap. Preferably the inturned rim 15 of the thinned skirt portion of the snap-on bottle cap is conformed with a multiplicity, such as twelve desirably equidistant scal ops 30 which permit escape to the outside, of the vapor of the s lvent from the adhesive fixing the inner safety seal 25.

To seal the bottle, the snap-on cap, desirably with its safety seal loosely retained therein, is snapped over the preferred construction of bottle finishabove described and shown in the drawings. In this operation, the clastic snap-on cap will be spread by engagement of the desirably rounded edge 31 of its lower gripping rim with the bead 22 of the bottle, and will resiliently embrace the lower, desirably concave, tapered portion 23 of the head as the snap-on cap is pushed down as far as it will go, that is, until the safety inner-seal film 25, engages the higher portion near the neck bore of the downwardly and outwardly sloping bottle rim. The force resiliently exerted by the gripping rim portion 15 against the bottle finish is normal thereto and that normal force is resolved into two components, one a radially, inward component A which maintains the gripping rim in engagement with the bottle between the limits of dimensional tolerances thereof, and a second substantially vertical component B, by which the top disk of the snap-on cap is caused to exert substantial pressure against the bottle rim for effectiveness of adhesion of the inner seal film with respect to the bottle rim.

In the ideal case, the vertical component of the resilient force transmitted by the stressed cap engaging the bottle at 31 is a maximum, but within the tolerances of dimensions of the bottle neck, that angle will always be materially greater than that afforded by the lock shoulder of conventional bottles.

In the application of the snap-on cap, in the embodimerit shown, there is little or no fiexure'at the thick annular portions 12 and 13 of the cap, but there are three regions of flexure, one at theshoulder 17 of the top disk, one at the inturned gripping rim 15 and one at the lower rim of the shoulder 13 between the thick portion 13 and the thin portion 14 of the skirt 11. These three regions of flexure permit the-ready adaptation of the "snap-on cap in the course of application, for the desired interference fit and do so throughout the range of dimensional tolerances of the bottle. It is the relatively stiff thick portions 12 and 13' of the snap-on cap that transmit the resilient thrust exerted between the gripping rim 15 of the cap and the bottle neck portion 23 for effective pressure of the inner seal film 25 against the bottle rim at the upper portion thereof near the bore of the bottle neck.

By the arrangement shown, it will be seen that the solvent carrier (whether water or other suitable solvent) will readily evaporate into the widened space between the outwardly sloping bottle rim and the snapon cap and thence escape through the vents or ports afforded by the scallops 30 in the skirt rim of the cap. In the absence of such facilities for escape for the carrier of the adhesive between the inner seal and the bottle, the drying would be extremely slow and the film would not efiectively adhere to the bottle rim and its tamper-proof purpose would be defeated, were the bottle surreptitiously opened, say in a self-service store, but replaced on the shelf of the store for subsequent sale. Moreover, the arrangement set forth, affords the most ready escape for the vapor of the carrier liquid to the exterior and thus protects the contents of the bottle from access of such vapor which might be highly objectionable, especially for preparations of hygroscopic or other critical characteristics.

The snap-on cap, as noted, is devoid of the pull tab convent-ionally used for its removal. The stiff peripheral shoulder 18 at the junction between the upper and the lower skirt portions 13 and 14 affords an excellent finger abutment over its entire periphery for forcing the snapon cap off the bottle when access is desired. In this operation, the gripping rim stretches outwardly especially at its scallops 30, in being drawn over the bottle head 22 and despite the relative thickness and rigidity of the rim portion 12 of the top disk and the upper portion 13 of the skirt, there is sufficient flexure at the junction between the thin and the thick portions 14 and 13 respectively of the skirt, at the inturned rim 15 of the skirt, and at the rimnear shoulder 17 of the thin portion 16 of the top disk and some fiexure in the thick portions 12, 13 of the cap due to the radial slots or grooves 19 to permit the cap to be drawn readily over the bead for removal.

The snap-on cap, especially in combination with the bottle finish disclosed, affords the desired top seal and extends the utility of snap-on caps to bottles, not only for solid or powdered material, but for liquid preparations as well, as above set forth.

While the invention has outstanding utility in the combination including the safety seal film 25, it is also applicable with substantial advantages in the relation shown in FIG. 4 in which the safety seal is absent. In this embodiment also, there is an effective top seal, directly between the elevated portion of the bottle rim near the bore of the bottle neck, and the inner face of the top disk of the snap-on cap. Since there is no vapor of adhesive carrier to be vented, the snap-on cap in that embodiment could be fashioned without the vapor venting scallops 30, although these scallops are desirable for the added flexibility they afford at the gripping rim. Even without the safety seal, the combination of bottle and snap-on cap shown in FIG. 4 affords an adequate seal not only for solid or powdered products, but for liquid products as well.

Where the inner seal is used as in the embodiment of FIG. 3, it is desirable to expose to view through the closed package, advertising or directional information that may be imprinted upon the upper face of the tamperproof safety seal 25. By the use of polyethylene, vinyl plastic or equivalent transparent materials, the thinned central portion 16 of the cap is sufficiently transparent to render visible and legible such legend on the film.

It will of course be understood that where the safety seal film is not used, or where the advantage of legibility through the closed package is to be dispensed with, the snap-on cap might be of opaque plastic or of plastic not sufficiently transparent to perform the remaining utilities set forth.

While the peripheral shoulder 18 is most desirable for purchase in pushing the snap-on cap off the bottle for access thereto, it will be understood that within the scope of the broader claims, a conventional pull tab could be used for removal of the snap-on bottle cap in lieu of a thick peripheral shoulder 18.

While the drawings are approximately to scale, the dimensions shown are largely illustrative and admit of some variation. 7

As changes could be made in the above construction and different embodiments of this invention could be made without department from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

p 1. A package including a relatively rigid container comprising a neck having a rim, of which the area close to and peripherally of the neck bore is higher than any other portion of the rim, and a peripheral outer bead continuous with said rim, the lowermost portion of said bead having a slope extending downwardly and inwardly at least far enough to be engaged by a snap-on cap for said package; in combination with a snap-on cap, including a top disk, and a skirt unitary therewith and depending therefrom, of resilient plastic, the junction between top disk and skirt of said cap comprising a thick relatively rigid portion extending peripherally along the top disk and a thick relatively rigid portion integral therewith, extending peripherally of the upper part of the skirt, the skirt having an inwardly extending lower rim portion thickened circumferentially, embracing and tangential to the downwardly and inwardly sloping lower portion of the bead, the skirt portion above the inwardly extending thickened lower rim being of substantially uniform inner diameter greater than that of the container neck embraced thereby, for clearance with respect thereto and to provide a space and having a portion reduced in thickness relative to that of the junction to afford the flexibility to permit the thickened lower rim of the skirt to be snapped in place under the bead under cap-applying pressure; the top disk of the snap-on cap having the central portion thereof corresponding substantially to the bore of the container, of thickness materially less than that of the rim portion of the top disk that is adjacent the junction thereof with the skirt, whereby the vertical component of pressure exerted tangentially of the lower portion of the bead against the inwardly extending rim portion of the skirt will exert maximum leverage transmitted through the relatively stiff junction of the cap for effective seating ofthe cap against the most elevated area of the container rim close to the bore of the neck, said snap-on cap having means unitary therewith to facilitate its removal from the container.

2. The package recited in claim 1 in which a tamperproof inner seal is interposed between the container rim and the snap-on cap with an adhesive bond with respect to the container rim at that portion near the bore of the bottle neck which is at highest level.

3. A package including a relatively rigid container comprising a neck having a rim, all of that area of which, that encompasses that area of the rim close to and peripherally of the neck bore being at level lower than said latter rim area, and a peripheral outer bead continuous with said rim, the lowermost portion of said bead having a slope extending downwardly and inwardly at least far enough to be engaged by a snap-on cap for said package; in combination with a snap-on cap, including a top disk, and a skirt unitary therewith and depending therefrom, of resilient plastic, the junction between top disk and skirt of said cap comprising a thick relatively rigid portion extending peripherally along the top disk and a thick relatively rigid portion integral therewith, extending peripherally of the upper part of the skirt, the skirt having an inwardly extending lower rim portion thickened circumferentially, embracing and tangential to the downwardly and inwardly sloping lower portion of the bead, the skirt portion above the inwardly extending thickened lower rim being of substantially uniform inner diameter greater than that of the container neck embraced thereby, for clearance with respect thereto and to provide a space and having a portion reduced in thickness relative to that of the junction to afford the flexibility to permit the thickened lower rim of the skirt to be snapped in place under the bead under cap-applying pressure; the top disk of the snap-on cap having the central portion thereof corresponding substantially to the bore of the container, of thickness materially less than that of the rim portion of the top disk that is adjacent the junction thereof with the skirt, a tamperproof inner sealfihn interposed between the container rim and the snap-on cap with an adhesive bond with respect to the container rim at that portion near the bore of the bottle neck whiehis at highest level, whereby the vertical component of pressure exerted tangentially of the lower portion of the head against the inwardly extending rim portion of the skirt will exert maximum leverage transmitted through the relatively stiff junction of the cap for effective seating of the cap against the most elevated area of the container rim close to the bore of the neck, said snap-on cap having means unitary therewith to facilitate its removal from the container, said inwardly extending rim having at least one transverse groove or scallop to provide a vent to said space.

4.'The combination recited in clairn3 in which the peripherally inwardly extending rim at the lower portion ofthe skirt of the snap-on cap has a plurality of equidistant interruptions in its inwardly extending rim for References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,979,706 Rearny Nov. 6, 1934 2,188,946 Gutrnann Feb. 6, 1940 2,772,802 Woydatt Dec. 4, 1956 2,901,140 Robinson Aug. 25, 1959 2,906,421 Jordanoff Sept. 29, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 519,553 Great Britain Mar. 29, 1940 464,785 Italy July 21, 1951 285,651 Switzerland Jan. 16, 1953 321,821 Switzerland July 15, 1957 

